I Can't Make You Love Me
by Rushery
Summary: Sakura still loves him, but maybe she can begin to love another. Love isn't always about happiness. Sakura-centric. Rated T for implied mature content. One-shot. Prepare your feels


Something quick. Hope you guys enjoy! For anyone who read Please Don't Go, I'll probably add another chapter in the next week or so.

* * *

It is a bright, sunny day in Konoha when she meets him; it's a day as ordinary as any other. The hospital is fairly quiet, and a roofer around her age is in with a broken arm. For a civilian he is a good sport about it, and his friend who brought him in is more than easy on the eyes. Overall Sakura's job is an easy one.

She patches him up, writes a prescription, and sends them on their way. Her eyes linger a bit too long on the cute friend as the roofers leave the room and when he looks back at her and sees her looking, he smirks and walks confidently back over to her. Sakura has always been a sucker for men that smirk.

She knows where this is going as he approaches, yet she has no good excuse to run off before he asks her out to tea right then and there. Before she can think of an excuse to decline, she is agreeing and finds herself walking down to the café on the main level with him.

"Kaito. You can call me Kaito."

His voice is low and smooth and she finds herself wanting to hear it again. Sakura offers her name in return and he gives her another handsome smirk.

"Of course I know who you are Haruno-san. But you're much cuter than people say you are."

She blushes at his compliment and he opens the door for them to walk through.

They drink tea for a little over a half hour. He is good company; Sakura finds him charming and intelligent. He makes her laugh, blush, and smile more in half an hour than she has since she can last remember.

When it was time for her to return to work, he pays for their drinks and gives her a charming grin. It reminds her of Naruto when he promised to bring back their best friend.

* * *

The second time he asks her out she still can't find a good excuse to say no.

Kaito treats her the way she always wanted someone she loved to treat her, and she isn't sure she wants to come up with an excuse to decline him the next time he asks. He continues to ask her out and she continues to enjoy his company.

The first time he holds her hand, they are walking through the village after a long rainfall. They come up to a large puddle, and Kaito offers her his hand in a cheesy gesture with a cheesy grin. She rolls her eyes at him, but takes his hand all the same and they cross the puddle. She continues to hold on as they walk back to her place, but when Sakura gets home the lingering warmth only reminds her of a former teammate's hand squeezing hers when he was consumed by pain on a damp and lonely forest floor.

* * *

To Sakura's surprise they continue to date.

Her first kiss is nothing like the one she has imagined countless times before. She can tell Kaito feels nervous and she supposes it is because he likes her so much. Sakura feels nothing except a fleeting pang of guilt in her stomach as his lips timidly approach hers. The sensation itself is nice; something she thinks she can get used to. Even if it isn't with the one she always imagined it would be with. Guilt fleets through her once more.

They kiss many times after that, and much more intimately. Sometimes he is slow and sweet and gentle, and sometimes Kaito kisses her with a fervent need like the way a fire consumes oxygen. But fire reminds her of a long lost clan, and passion reminds her of her feelings she once held close to her heart.

She begins to wish the boy from her past would stop haunting her.

* * *

The first time they share a bed Sakura is surprised the intimacy doesn't bother her. She's never let a man share her bed before, despite a constant and unending want to. Kaito pulls her close into his sturdy chest and kisses the top of her head tenderly before wishing her goodnight. Sakura feels safe and adored. She knows she can trust Kaito with her heart, but for some reason she is hesitant to hand it over to him.

* * *

When he is inside her she can't help herself from thinking of him. The first time he takes her from behind all she can think about is the warmth that radiated from a raven haired boy when he thanked her on a cold night before leaving her on a bench and walking out of her life.

She asks Kaito to take her harder.

Instead, he pulls out, turns her over, and makes love to her slow.

"Look at me Sakura."

She opens her eyes and she looks at him. Kaito eyes are full of affection and she wishes he was the only man she had eyes for. She holds him close even though her heart is far, and they continue to make love.

* * *

The first time Kaito tells her he loves her she can't say the words back.

Kaito is a good man and she wishes she could love him the way he proclaims he loves her.

She wants to say the words, but as soon as she looks up to his eyes she is brought back to the moment she proclaimed her love for a lost and lonely boy. Sakura doesn't say the words back, but she tells him one day she could love him, and they both believe it.

* * *

The first time she cries in front of him she knows she has to break it off. News of Itachi's passing and Sasuke's missing whereabouts have reached the village, and Sakura is at work when she hears it. At home Kaito asks her how her day was and pulls her into a tight hug, but there is no holding back the few tears that escape her eyes. He asks what is wrong, but it is all Sakura can do to keep herself from crying hysterically, so she says nothing. A few more tears slip down from her eyes before she gets herself together, and tells him she is ok. Kaito seems to think it had something to do with the hospital and patient confidentiality and does not press further. Sakura knows it is best to break things off sooner than later.

* * *

They break up and a week passes. Sakura knows she is kidding herself when she tells herself at night she doesn't miss him. He has left an oh-so familiar void in her heart and her life, and she seeks out missions and her friends to try and fill them.

Unexpectedly, it is not Ino who understands her best, but her old sensei.

"You still love him don't you."

Her stomach drops when she realizes he isn't talking about Kaito. She doesn't want to answer, but her old sensei deserves one.

"…I-I wanted to stop but I can't. It hurts so much sensei."

He sighs and closes his book characteristically.

"I'm sorry Sakura."

She knows he is. And she knows he understands when he taps her head lightly with his book as she stands there and tries not to fall apart.

* * *

It's another ordinary day at the hospital, much like the one she met Kaito on. The quiet is soon interrupted when she is told there are two incoming shinobi who are hurt, but in good enough shape to bring themselves in. She puts on a scrub gown and waits at the door for the incoming trauma, trying to decide if she wants to give the reckless shinobi an earful or not.

Sakura hears the door opening and looks in its direction, and standing in front of her is Naruto and a very beat-up Sasuke.

Sakura feels her heart skip a beat.

He stands in front of her as devastatingly beautiful as he has always been. He is scowling but he is not trying to escape; Sasuke is ready to come home.

Long ago she resolved if she ever saw the Uchiha again she would punch him in the face for all the pain he has caused her.

Sakura feels the familiar burn of tears filling her eyes, and she moves.

But instead of clocking him, she wraps her arms around him and holds on to him tight, crying into his chest.

"I told you she would cry teme."

* * *

Let me know what you think?  
I wanted this to convey raw emotion, so I decided on present tense. Lots of the phrasing just sounds better this way. I'm pretty happy with how it turned out.


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